


Come Back

by ferian_gap



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dreams and Nightmares, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-19
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2019-01-19 10:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 477
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12408594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ferian_gap/pseuds/ferian_gap
Summary: Wren frequently gets nightmares, just like her lover. They know how to wake each other, how to bring each other back.





	Come Back

A man's laughter echoed somewhere in the distance as the darkness closed in around her. Then a scream, her mother's bloodcurdling scream, and her father's sobbing. _This is just the Fade,_ she told herself. _This is just a nightmare._  
Her father appeared before her against the darkness, the tears on his face glinting from some light she could not see. He was on his knees, begging. "Maxwell, please," he said. "She is my daughter. She is your niece. She is your own flesh and blood."  
_This is just the Fade._  
The laughter came again, this time from behind her. As an armored hand grabbed her shoulder, she heard her uncle say, "She is no niece of mine."  
Her father looked up at her, his eyes overflowing with fear. Then he faded, and the Circle formed around her. "Wren!" Lydia's voice called out. "You need to leave!" Frail hands shook her shoulders as Lydia's face materialized in front of hers. "Go!"  
_This is just the Fade._  
She willed her feet to move, used every ounce of energy, but her legs were lead. Her whole body was lead. The flames started at her feet, spreading outwards to engulf the room. They burned brighter and brighter, until the light was blinding. She squeezed her eyes shut, opening them to the darkness once again.  
Lydia shouted something. She turned to see a rebel mage attacking her mentor. Finally able to move, she rushed forward. "Stop!"  
The mage moved with impossible speed, striking her head with his staff. Blood she could not see dripped down into her face taking the same path down it always did.  
She turned, looking for the rebel, but he was gone, and only Lydia's lifeless body remained.  
_This is just the Fade._  
Green light erupted through the dark, and she heard herself scream. The the debris from the temple scattered around her.  
_This is just the Fade._  
The heat of the archdemon's blast contrasted by the cold as she trekked broken and bruised through the Frostbacks. The wolves howling somewhere much too near.  
_This is just the Fade._  
Hawke's laughter as she cut into the Nightmare. "Forgive me, Anders."  
_This is just the Fade._  
The Orlesian court. Daggers hidden in dresses. Warnings of poisons in wine.  
_This is just the Fade._  
The sight of Corypheus' rebirth into the blighted body.  
_This is just the Fade._  
This is just the Fade.  
"Come back," a voice said. "It's just a dream, Love. Come back."  
_This is just the Fade._

She awoke to find herself wrapped in Cullen's arms. It was common for them, to hold each other when the nightmares took hold. Without saying a word, she moved her arms around him, finding security in his body heat. She wept into his shoulder as he held her.  
"I'm here," he whispered. "I'll always be here to bring you back."

**Author's Note:**

> "Terror in his sleep. He's surrounded by them. They look like the mage. Black hair, a crooked smile. He adored an abomination. Haunting him, hurting him. The past will not stay there.  
> But then she's present. A beacon, beckoning him to the light. Ice for eyes, melting the moments of fear. She holds him as he holds her. 'Come back,' they say. 'Come back to me.' "  
> -Cole


End file.
